8 South Carolina BBQ Places Frank Underwood Would Love

Master schemer/fourth-wall breaker Frank Underwood doesn't wear a lot on his sleeve, but one thing he's completely open about? His love of Freddy's BBQ Joint. While the DC spot looks pretty excellent on House of Cards, we can't help wondering why Frank, a South Carolina boy, doesn't spend more time talking about his home state's thriving barbecue scene. To fill in the blanks, we called up two local experts, who gave us eight quintessential examples of the SC style. Lake High is the president and founder of the South Carolina Barbeque Association, while David Campbell is a regional barbecue judge. Between the two of them, we think we found at least one place for the Underwoods to visit on their next trip back to Gaffney.

Various locations Lake says: "Maurice’s has been in business since 1939, and it’s the largest barbecue seller in America that still sells barbecue 100% cooked over wood coals. Nobody in America serves more barbecue that’s real barbecue than Maurice’s."

Batesburg-Leesville Lake says: "This is the last place in South Carolina where they’re cooking whole hog over coals and they lay the hog out for what’s known as pig pickin'. They also cook some of the best hash in America."

Charleston David says: "This is actually run by Maurice's [of Maurice's Piggie Park] brother. They got mad at each other and set up places on other sides of the state, which is an interesting backstory."

West Columbia David says: "You'll see the guys grilling right out in the parking lot right as you pull up. It smells great."

Kristin Huntis a Food/Drink staff writer for Thrillist. She would do horrible things to get BBQ with Claire Underwood, but she suspects Claire never eats anything remotely saucy. Follow her at @kristin_hunt.